E like Economy and Environment

Since the time I understood how recycling and pollution work, I have always tried to be (too) careful about every thing that I do, waste and consume. I try to understand and maybe find a better solution for climate change and environment.

The little hamster in my head keeps spinning. I always think about all the places I’ve lived and visited. It’s natural act, I need to recycle and be careful no matter where I am.

Recycling collect – Winner – Belleville, Ontario, Canada.
Description: As a resident of Belleville, you have your normal trash bin and your blue bin. If you don’t how things work for garbage and recycling day, you might be stuck with your trash. You need to separate your recyclables into a blue bag and the blue bin. That way, it is easier for sorting material. Your trash: You need to buy an orange tag for $2 at convenience store and put it on your bag. If you don’t have it, they won’t pick it up. The same for recycling: If you haven’t separated your recyclables, they won’t empty your bin and take your bag. Picking up recycling is free, but you need to pay for your orange tag for your garbage. You think twice before putting an empty cereal box in garbage.

Economy saving
France: When you walk in a building – The lights are off. You need to push a button to turn them on. They will stay on for 1 minute or so. They even turn off Eiffel Tower at night.

Population: Germany and Montreal
You see people riding their bike to work. Not because of congestion charges or anything. It’s because they want it. The population is just careful about what they do. If you throw something on the street, people might say something to you… pick it up, or insult you. I love it. (I might be on of them, I am still a Montrealer in my heart!)

Transportation
Sweden and UK: Public Transportation in London is a luxury. But you have to be a millionaire to drive your car around central London. The same for Sweden. I think congestion problems are bigger in London but I still think it’s cool that you need to pay to get in Stockholm. In London, you have to pay… watch out: £8  (14 CAD) per day to get inside London. You simply jump on a red bus because they are everywhere and it’s way cheaper. And London even has hybrid buses.

In a previous article I wrote for the The Pioneer newspaper about Recycling and economical crisis, I had the chance to do an interview with the General Director of Quinte Waste Solutions. It turned into an amazing conversation. That day, I understood that Environment is leaded by economy.

I always asked myself why in Montreal, they don’t recycle Styrofoam compared to Toronto where they do. Rick Clow from Quinte Waste explained me that everything is recyclable. Everything. It’s company who decide is they need the product, but first if the cost for making new product is cheaper than to buy recycled product.

Recycling is small part of the Iceberg.
Everything solution for each places I have been is to save money, or to make money, or to make people spend their money.

L’argent mêne vraiment le Monde,
mais ça ne fait pas le bonheur.

Weird Artists

What is weird?

…

Anything we don’t know, used to or anything outside from our own little world can be weird for many people…

As I am watching Radiohead live from Reading Festival on BBC3, it reminds me how many people treated Thom York like a weird man. How many times have I heard someone saying this person is weird, etc etc? And how many times this person reveal itself as being an artist? Many…. 8 out of 10.

I do have sometimes this comment. I do sometimes have the comment for just being myself: spontaneous, passionate and yes, weird. Weird in my way for being myself and normal.

So every time I hear someone saying a comment about a person being weird, I shut up and feel lucky being aware of that person being special in her own way.

The greatest artists living on Earth today probably had the comment many times; if they don’t hear it anymore… it’s probably because they are dead.

Michael Jackson for example. Comments I have heard years after years of judging him and now: He is the King.

Picasso was probably treated like a weirdo the time he was still creating. He is now one of the greatest and most respected painters.

Back in kindergarten, we all remember how much we loved drawing, painting and using our imagination. Some forgot that and got into this society following the rules and being aware of what looks good, bad, awkward and of course normal.

After living in Britain for a while, I never heard that comment. I think the good part of living in London is England is people do recognize arts and the importance of following our creativity.

Example: Fashion in London is one of the most important things. They dress the way they feel and they want. Not to fit in some kind of cadre de société. They don’t stop being artist.

Now let’s go back to Radiohead… live from their own country: England.

I have to go deeper in that subject next time.

Camp for Climate

Yesterday, I went to shoot  the “big” protest for climate change called Camp for Climate.

The organisation who had troubled in the past with British Police, made the “event” as secret as possible. An hour or so before noon (beginning of Protest) they were announcing on Twitter and via SMS where to go. So the Police “wouldn’t be prepared”. Here it was: St-James square in Central London, from there, they would say the real secret spot. St-James square is where British petroleum head offices are. It made sense for me to go to this one… They have an impact on Tar sands in Canada… I wanted to find an angle to cover it.

Well, I got to the secret spot approx an hour late. Got there, the park was empty… Great.

Walked nowhere to see where I could find a clue where the protest could be. I saw a photojournalist and asked him if he was going to shoot the protest and where it was. “Trafalgar Square”, he said.

!!!! In front of National Museum?…. mmmmkkkk….

Got there. I think more photographers and videographers were there than people protesting. Great.

I waited for a while. And this is where I asked myself so many Questions.

Yes, you can (like me) take the environment very seriously. Yes. BUT, while I was waiting, I saw I don’t know how many protesters drinking water in plastic bottles they bought at Sainsbury’s. They were eating humus with peppers packed and wrapped in not one but TWO plastic containers… Everything brought in a wonderful plastic bag.

I talked to one of the girl. She came all the way from France to assist to Camp for Climate. By plane probably, or bus whatever, not by an ecological way anyway. She looked at me and almost insult me when I said I was more on the neutral side for a journalist point of view. The girl in question had unshaved armspits…

You can dress like a hippie, assist to I don’t how many protest, smell like patchouli but it doesn’t mean that you are more careful about what you’re doing because you look like the way you look. Capiche?

Out loud from London

J’observe tout, trop, tout le temps… tout ce qui m’entoure. Ça en fait pas mal de choses à analyser…

Je suis une simple canadienne française vivant à Londres. Avant Londres, il y a eu Paris et  avant Paris : la magnifique province de l’Ontario du Canada. Je peux clamer haut et fort que je suis (je crois) une vrai pro des commentaires sans queue ni tête, mais tout de même songés.

J’ai des principes que j’aime défendre. Je dis « out loud » des remarques… Par contre, vivant à Londres depuis quelque temps, il n’y a pas beaucoup de monde avec qui je peux « partager » mes commentaires et qui pourront bien me comprendre, surtout avec mon humour à 2 piastres*.

Je serai Melaniskaya (surnom donné affectueusement par moi-même), jeune femme de 28 ans originaire d’une petite ville sympathique et pitorrrrresque des Cantons de l’Est, au Québec.

Depuis plusieurs années, je me balade de pays en pays et voici maintenant vivant à Londres, poussant ma carrière de photographe dans une odeur de fish n’ chips et de bière. Qu’est-ce que je fais ici ? « Parce que » est la meilleure réponse à vous donner, malheureusement. Un jour, vous aurez des bruits de crécelles et des confettis dans les cheveux, et je vous dirai avec plaisir la raison…  Bel et bien avec plaisir parce que j’ai moi même hâte de savoir pourquoi aie-je quitté le Québec ? Pour vivre avec, soi des Français avec qui tout est toujours compliqué que c’est juste n’importe quoi… Ou, les Anglais avec qui tout est toujours trop simple que c’est juste n’importe quoi.

La base de la base

J’ai été élevée en français, parlant français à la maison, mais ayant un grand-pa anglophone héritant de son nom de famille anglophone. J’ai fait mes études moitié anglaises et moitié français. J’ai vécu en Ontario 1 an (province anglophone) et en France 3 mois et me voilà à Londres. Ce qui fait que ni mon français écrit et ni mon anglais écrit n’est parfait.

Le Québec, la belle province, serait aux dires de plusieurs touristes, le parfait mélange d’Amérique et de la France. (Allez voir vos livres d’histoires…)

Tous ces éléments ont fait de moi une parfaite schyzo, souvent parlant Franglais avec mes friends, aimant et détestant à la fois le Québec et l’Europe. Je réalise petit à petit qu’un pays pour une personne comme moi, il n’y en a peut-être pas.

Suivez mes commentaires de fille perdue sur les gens, les cultures, les religions, les différences et les ressemblances. À qui ça intéresse, moi j’ai besoin de le dire «out loud ».